No one hates cowbells like Auburn hates Cowbells
No other school complains and gripes about cowbells more than Auburn. It’s an annual tradition.
The cowbell, as we all know, has been a tradition at Mississippi State dating back to the 1930s. They were rung proudly at football games without penalty until Auburn got their panties in a bunch at the 1974 game in Jackson.
In a game they won, Tiger players and coaches claimed they couldn’t hear anything. The game allegedly featured three bench-clearing brawls which I’m sure led to the angst Auburn head coach Shug Jordan felt towards Mississippi State.
Jordan declared he would take the issue of cowbells to the commissioner to get them banned, and he did just that. Cowbells were banned from 1975-2009. Not until 2010 were MSU fans allowed to even bring them in the stadium let alone ring them.
Certain times were allowed for CLANGA until 2014 when there became “one simple rule”: ring all you want except when the Center is over the ball.
In recent years, Auburn fans have adopted the tradition of “all-in” complaining about cowbells. In 2014, they made their own and claimed they would counter State’s CLANGA with their own.
Auburn cowbells, circa 2014 pic.twitter.com/qiSFtaysLe
— M-State Pics & Video (@mstatepicsvideo) October 3, 2016
That didn’t work out so well. Instead, Mississippi State fans were louder than ever for that game and did an excellent job following the rules (no fines from the league office for Auburn readers who argue the legitimacy of my claims).
You can always count on Auburn media to bring up cowbells the first thing Monday morning. Here are some quotes they got from Auburn players via AL.com:
“I always hated those cowbells, even when I was getting recruited,” said Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis. “I went there and I was like, ‘There’s no way I could play at a school like this with the cowbells.’ It’s a good program and all of this, but we’re not — on the defensive side of the ball we’re not really going to hear it, but when the offense is out there I know it’s going to be really nerve-racking.”
“I mean, (the cowbells) are loud as heck,” said offensive lineman Braden Smith. “That’s all I know. You’ve just got to get past it. If we’re doing good, then the cowbells will stop. That’s the only way you can silence them basically… It was definitely noticeable (in 2014) but I mean, it’s just noise basically.”
We’ve heard other schools complain about cowbells and say they don’t like them yada yada yada, but no one complains like Auburn complains.
Given that Miss. State’s Bulldog Bash will end in the wee hours of Saturday morning, hangovers may lessen the appeal of cowbells. #auburn
— WarBlogle.com (@WarBlogle) October 3, 2016
Auburn fans will even complain about them when MSU is playing at Jordan-Hare. It’s ridiculous.
CLANGA.
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